WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –
Junior Hanna Mar claimed the title in both the singles and doubles championships
on Monday at the ITA Regionals at the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center in
Winston-Salem, N.C. In singles play, Mar downed No. 26 Zoe DeBruycker of North
Carolina before teaming up with sophomore Ester Goldfeld to cruise past top-seeded
Jaklin Alawi and Dominika Kanakva of South Carolina in the doubles championship.
With the win, Mar and Goldfeld qualify for the ITA National Indoor
Championships in New York, N.Y., Nov. 8-11.

“It was a great weekend, and I am really happy with how
everything turned out,” said Mar. “I am really happy with how I played, and can’t
be happier right now. I think I gained a lot of confidence over the weekend. It
all just kind of came together at the end, and I was fortunate enough to play
really well this morning.”

In the singles championship match, Mar broke serve early in
the first set and cruised to an easy 6-1 win. In the second set, Mar continued
to play as the aggressor and cruised to a 6-3 victory to claim the title, her
second title of the fall season. The win caps a week in which Mar went 6-0 against
including her victory over No. 26 DeBruycker in the championship match.

After going 6-0 this week, Mar now owns an 11-2 record this
fall. In the first round on Friday, No.35 Hanna Mar cruised past Nicole
Martinez of North Carolina State, 6-4, 6-2, before defeating Brooke McAmis of
College of Charleston, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinal. Mar then downed
No. 63 Jaklin Alawi of South Carolina, 6-2, 6-2 before outlasting Yana Koroleva
of Clemson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the championship match.

“She does a really good job of believing in herself,” said
head coach Jamie Ashworth. “She knows what she does well and she executes it.
To beat Hanna, you have to come out and really play well because she is so
quick on the court and anticipates so well that she gets to a lot of balls that
a lot of people don’t get to. She makes you go for more than you want to
because of her speed. She really uses her speed to her advantage. It was really
a great day for her.”

Just hours after competing in the singles championship, Mar
joined Goldfeld in the championship match of the doubles main draw. Despite not
playing together in a tournament before this weekend, the duo of Mar and
Goldfeld downed top-seeded Alawi and Kanakva, 8-2.

“Coming into each match, Hanna and I had a pretty clear game
plan, so we knew what we had to do from the start,” said Goldfeld. “We did a
really good job with the basics: our returns, our serves, approaching on the
volleys that we need to approach on.”

On the weekend, the Blue Devils recorded a 14-4 record in
singles and 7-1in doubles.

“I think we established ourselves as one of the best teams
in the region, and that is what we wanted to do. We want people to know what
kind of depth we have, we want people to know that one through eight we are one
of the most dominant teams, so just to have that fear when we play dual matches
is a good thing.”

Despite the solid performance, Ashworth still believes there
is room for growth.

“We need to keep taking advantage of positions that we are
in, and working on the momentum of matches all the way through,” said Ashworth.
“In singles and in doubles, we had some chances where maybe we could have won
some sets easier or put some sets away when we had the chance, so I think we
need to keep working on understanding the momentum of the match. Heading into
the spring, we need to do a better job of that.”

The Blue Devils are next slated to compete at the USTA
Invitational Nov. 2-4 in Portland, Ore.